Camel-print plates at Objects and Elements.
Camel-print plates at Objects and Elements.
Camel-print plates at Objects and Elements.
Camel-print plates at Objects and Elements.

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Indonesian imports from Objects and Elements

Claudia Granberg says the goal of her Al Quoz warehouse is to offer an alternative to the standard home decor brands.

Selina Denman
Selina Denman

March 15, 2012

  • English
  • Arabic

I've been in Dubai for 14 years. My first business started in 2000 and focused on recycled teak from Indonesia. Then I partnered with a gentleman from Italy and we established Presotto Middle East, a supplier of high-end furniture. I opened the retail division for furniture and accessories.

We sold the business and I recently opened a warehouse in Al Quoz called Objects and Elements. We have a 6,000-square-foot showroom. I do home accessories and a lot of artwork. In the showroom right now I have more than 100 paintings.

I do wholesale and retail, and a big market for me is interior designers.

We offer home decoration or home objects, but unique pieces. My interior design clients are always saying, "Claudia, it's good you opened this."

In the UAE, projects are starting to come up again, and people are feeling more confident. But if you are decorating homes, you can basically go to The One, Ikea, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel and all those kinds of places. As a result, a lot of homes look the same, more or less. So interior designers want special pieces to be able to offer their clients, and that's basically what I provide.

It's going great. I only opened on November 14, so I've been working quite hard, mainly networking. I'm targeting different markets and different communities.

Everything is from Indonesia. But all my artwork comes from a factory run by an Italian, which is where the quality control comes in.

Another of my suppliers is Belgian, also based in Indonesia. Then I have another line by a French lady. Other things I source myself.

I have homes in Bali. I lived in Hong Kong for five and a half years, I've been here 14, and I've had properties in Bali for about 10 years. I've got a bike there and I just drive around, looking for nice pieces. Sometimes I go into these little shacks and I see a piece that is completely dirty but you can see something, and then I have it cleaned and redone and it looks quite nice. These are the kind of pieces I offer.

For more information visit www.objectsandelementsgroup.com

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Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?

Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.

They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.

“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.

He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.

Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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